Losing my religion...

... or more like having it stolen from me.

As we close in on Christmas, I have been amazed at all the effort this year to take the Christianity out of Christmas. Granted, Christmas has for many years now been quickly becoming a commercial holiday rather than a religious one but that is besides the point. What I am talking about is that it seems these last few weeks there has been a signifcant rise in the accounts of not being able to celebrate or even acknowledge the religious aspects of Christmas. At the University of Illinois you cannot have a Christmas Tree in the common areas of the dorms and displaying Christmas messages or symbols in your window is being questioned. This is because some students were complaining about the "offensiveness" of the displays. Offensive!!?? A tree or Santa Claus?!?! Talk about thin skinned! Also, at many parties held this season, they are "holiday" parties rather than Christmas parties, but yet they are complete with all the Christmas trimmings, that are both obivious and subtle in their religious connotation. But yet, you can't call it Christmas. But it is the Advent season in the Christian calendar and on the 24th it will officially be the Christmas season, although the retail stores would have you beleive it started October 1st.

At church on last sunday the high school aged students presented a throughly modern play that through to me about how the real reason for celebrating Christmas has been lost to so many. For Christians, it is the celebration of the birth of their savior, and so we celebrate by giving gifts to loved ones much like the wisemen or kings of the bible story did at Jesus' birth. Retails stores have picked up on this and made it into their main season of sales and made it the commercialized holiday that it is and we Christians, along with everyone else that likes getting gifts have played into their hands and help the process along. However, no matter what you believe, never forget that you are also playing right along with the Christian belief that the saviour of the world was born in Jerusalem many years ago and began a long process of dying for your sins so that you might be saved in the end of all things. Don't tell me you can celebrate Christmas without celebrating Christ because it goes hand in hand. Can you celebrate Ramadan and ignore the Koran and writings of Mohammed, or celebrate Hannukah and ignore the significance of the Hannukah story. Probably, but it make the holidays a little hollow for those who follow those beliefs. I don't celebrate those holidays because they are not my beliefs but I respect them and would never think of telling those who do celebrate them that they can't include very signicant portions of their beleif system in their celebrations. I don't care if they are not commercially signifcant in the US or world economy. Just because my holiday is and it is very wide spread, doesn't mean I have to hold back or curtail aspects of it so that I don't offend someone of a different belief.

Let me have my holiday in its totallity and I will let others have theirs. For me Christmas is a very special holiday. It allows me to imitate God's love for me, by giving gifts to my family in somewhat of the same manner that he gave me a gift. Love and family, God's and mine, that is what Christmas means to me.

I am sorry if this is somewhat rambling but religion is a tough thing for me to speak on but I think you get my meaning. Thanks and Merry Christmas!